Thomas Boyd/The OregonianShoppers hoping to get their hands on an iPhone 4 line up at Bridgeport Village to buy one this morning in Tualatin.

Four hours after the Apple Store at Portland's Pioneer Place opened Thursday, iPhone hopefuls were still queued up in a line that snaked around the elevators and down a hallway.

Steven Schroedl of Happy Valley waited until about 10:45 a.m. to get in line with his son, Matthew. Schroedl was watching the movie "Spy Game" on his 3G-enabled iPad. Matthew was playing with his father's soon-to-be-replaced iPhone.

"We're an Apple family," said Schroedl, naming a litany of i-gadgets and Mac computers they have at home.

But even a self-described Apple fanatic like Schroedl was surprised by the line he encountered -- in what has become a boisterous tradition for the company's product launches -- when he arrived at 10:45 a.m. to buy a new iPhone 4.

"I was shocked," he said. "I didn't want to come down at 7 a.m., because that would be the insane time."

Last week, Apple sold 600,000 phones over the Internet before halting orders because of concerns that demand for the new phone could outstrip supply.

Some analysts are projecting the company will have sold as many as 1 million of the phones by the end of the day Thursday, up from 270,000 on the first day the original iPhone was available in 2007.

Benjamin Brink/The OregonianThe first customer in line at Pioneer Place this morning celebrates before being led by Apple employees into the store. He had been waiting since midday Wednesday for the opportunity.

The phone retails for $199 -- $299 with extra storage space -- with a
two-year contract.

Thursday might also have been the last chance early adopters will have
to get their hands on one of the new iPhones for at least a few days.

Orders made Thursday on Apple's website aren't guaranteed to ship until
July 14, and some brick-and-mortar stores sold out within hours.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said demand was "off the charts," and
that the company was working hard to get phones into customers' hands
as quickly as possible.

Brian Marshall, an analyst for Gleacher & Co., said certain Apple
stores likely had enough iPhones to last into Friday before selling out.
A new shipment could be in stores as early as Saturday, he said, but
more likely won't arrive until early next week.

Apple is having a hard time getting enough of the new custom parts for
the iPhone 4, such as its new higher-resolution screen, Marshall said.
Apple has said the white iPhone it plans to produce has been more
challenging than expected, and won't be available until late July. Only
black models went on sale Thursday.

It may also be the case that Apple correctly anticipated opening-day
demand but sent too many phones to some of its 200-plus U.S. stores and
not enough to others, said Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu.

Jeff Reynolds, a
Portland web designer, arrived at Pioneer Place at 6:20 a.m. -- just as
the line was starting to enter the building. The first customer in line
had arrived at midday Wednesday to reserve his place.

"It was definitely at least around the block," he said just after
receiving his iPhone at 10:30 a.m.

Reynolds said he's had every iPhone, and he waited in line on release
day to get the iPhone 3GS last year.

"It's kind of a fun event," he said. "I have other friends who like this
kind of thing, so we make an event out of it."

Margaret Kendall of Portland arrived shortly before 11 a.m. and was told
she faced a five-hour wait to get inside the store.

That's when she started calling friends to hold her place in line so she
could make some meetings for work later in the day. One friend said
he'd show up later, and in exchange she'll have to wash his car.

"I've gotta have it," she said.

Already reports are spreading of a problem with the phone's antenna
band. Users report that touching the metal band on the lower-left corner
of the phone causes an almost immediate drop in signal. The phenomenon
had been widely documented in videos posted online Thursday.